PARAGUA, BARBOSA SPARKLE Final standings: 7 points --I. Smirin, I. Nyzhnyk, C. Holt 6.5 -- Y. Perez, S. Azarov, A. Lenderman, E. Ghaem Maghami 6 -- H. Kamsky, L. Bruzon, V. Laznicka, Y. Gonzales, M. Paragua, S. Nagle 5.5 -- T. Gareyev, A. Kobalyov, I. Suarez, T. Shulman, O. Barbosa, A. Zapata, P.Filip, P. Kannappan, K. Korley, D. Shmelov, F. Mandishah, R. Przeotu, E. Li WORLD Chess Olympiad veterans GMs Mark Paragua and Oliver Barbosa did the country proud by finishing in the upper half of the standings in the 42nd Annual World Open chess championships at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia. Paragua, who was left out of the five-player Philippine team set to see action in the 41st World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway next month, won two of his final three assignments to finish in a six-way tie for eighth to 13th places with six points on five wins, two draws and two losses at the end of the prestigious, five-day competition hosted by the Continental Chess Association. Overall, Paragua finished 12th after the tiebreak. The 30-year-old pride of Meycauayan, Bulacan defeated FM Atulya Shetty of the United States in the seventh round and GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz Suarez of Cuba in the eighth and penultimate round. But Paragua failed to climb higher in the 95-player field when he succumbed to GM Conrad Holt of the United States in the ninth and final round. Paragua, however, finished with the same score of top seed GM Gata Kamsky of the US, second seed GM Lazaro Bruzon of Cuba, former champion GM Viktor Laznicka of Czech Republic, GM Yuri Gonzales of Cuba and FM Sean Nagle of the US. Barbosa, the country’s third highest-rated player behind US-based GMs Wesley So and Julio Catalino Sadorra, whipped four-time Wisconsin State champion IM Erik Santarius to finish with 5.5 points on three wins, five draws and only one loss. Barbosa, the 27-year old graduate of the University of the Philippines, drew with GM Alonso Zapata of Cuba in the seventh round but lost to Kamsky in the eighth round. The Taytay, Rizal-based Barbosa finished in a tie for 14th to 26th places. He eventually wound up 18th. The rest of the Filipino campaigners also made their presence felt. IM Angelo Young, finished third in the Under 2400 section. The Chicago-based Young finished with five wins and four draws for seven points, half a point behind eventual winners FM Eugene Yanayt and FM Luis Maria Flaquer. FM Paolo del Mundo finished ninth overall with 6.5 points on six wins, one draw and two losses. National University coach Jojo Aquino and Rico Salimbagat finished 32 and and 34th , respectively, with five points. In the 2200 under, Rainier Labay finished sixth overall with seven points. Other previous winners were GM Varushan Akobian of the United States (2013), GMs Ivan Sokolov and Alex Shabalov (2012), Kamsky and GM Michael Adams (2011), Laznicka (2010) and GM Evgeny Najer (2009).
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 13:35:50 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015